Tipaimukh: Past, Present & Future

By L.Keivom

The topic assigned to me is a daunting one for the following basic reasons. First, there are no written records of Tipaimukh’s distant past. Whatever information that we have are from myths and legends handed down from generation to generation by words of mouth. The name of Tipaimukh began to appear sporadically in writing after the British penetration into the area and particularly when they used the strategic location as a launching pad to invade Mizoram from the northern flank in 1871-72, the establishment of Tipaimukh bazaar from 1873-1888 and the annual border meetings between the Superintendent of Lushai Hills (Mizoram) and the Deputy Commissioner of Manipur at the Tipaimukh site. Second, the present Tipaimukh has been willfully neglected and virtually every fabric of the society and the civil administration in the area have become paralyzed making it difficult to pinpoint where the gangrene started and where treatment has to begin. Third, its future is bleak and uncertain.

Despite all these negative factors, the importance of Tipaimukh as a historical and strategic location from all considerations remains. It is a God given hinterland and if its infrastructure and connectivity are developed and properly utilized, it will be a boon not only to the local populace but also to the surrounding areas as far as the Chin Hills through Champhai and Churachandpur/Singat as had been the case during the British Raj when the western Chin Hills bordering Mizoram got most of its essential supplies from Silchar via Tipaimukh and other smaller outlets along the Barak and Tuivai.

Its name and location

Tipaimukh is the name of a place in south-west Manipur where the Barak River (Tuiruong) rising from its source near Mao Songsong village in Senapati District bordering Nagaland and the Tuivai river from Mizoram meet. The local inhabitants predominantly Hmars call it ‘Ruonglevaisuo’ (ruong-le-vai-suo) which means a confluence of Tuiruong and Tuivai. ‘Tui’ in Zo language is water and Tuiruong means ‘Lalruong river’. Lalruong (Ralngam) was a legendary figure, the greatest magician that ever lived in this part of the world. ‘Tuivai’ means a river that has no where to go. It literally means a ‘vagabond river’ (tui=water, vai=vagabond) but more appropriately a meandering river. ‘Le’ is a conjunction meaning ‘and’ and ‘Suo’ means confluence where rivers flow together and become one, like the Blue Nile and the White Nile in Egypt.

Tipaimukh is a combination of two words ‘Tipai’ and ‘Mukh’. The word ‘Tipai’ is a corrupted form of ‘Tui-vai’ resulting from mispronunciation or misspelling of ‘Tui’ as ‘Ti’ and ‘vai’ as ‘pai’ as most Bengali speakers have difficulty in pronouncing ‘v’; and ‘mukh’ in Bengali is ‘mouth’ or ‘confluence’. Literally, Tipaimukh means a confluence where Tuivai empties itself to become Tuiruong (Barak). Tipaimukh is on the 700 km long National Highway (NH) 150 linking Kohima (Nagaland) at the junction with NH 53 and Seling in Mizoram at the junction with NH 54 and is about 262 kms from Churachandpur, the district headquarters and 323 kms from the State capital Imphal. Silchar, the district capital of Cachar District in Assam State through which the Barak flows, is the nearest commercial centre and road and rail and air links from Tipaimukh to the outside world.

Historical watershed

The Zo descents covering the Chin-Kuki-Mizo/Zomi as a whole associated the Barak river with the name of their legendary hero and magician Lalruong and named the river ‘Tuiruong’ after his name. ‘Tuiruong’ means Lalruong’s river. There are many stories about him and his exploits. It’s their kind of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and their history and literature are inseparably entwined with Lalruong. His other name is Ralngam (Galngam) which means a man who overcomes or vanquishes his enemies or opponents.

The story of Lalruong’s conception and birth compares very close to that of Jesus Christ’s. Traditional belief held that Tuiruong had a guardian spirit (huoi), somewhat like the Burmese nat and Lalruong descended from the line of incarnation of that water spirit and inherited his exceptional magical ability from a heavenly being called Vanhrit. There are many stories of a magical Tuiruong gong (Tuiruong dar) having three bosses, each producing beautiful descending notes when struck and this gong belonged to the Tuiruong spirit. Lalruong’s father Zauhrang from Tinsuong (Tasuong) village obtained this gong from an old couple by way of providing succour at their old age. Many of the so-called Lalruong’s exploits, claimed by the locals, took place in and around Tipaimukh. These include a pierced stone by his arrow; the spot where he burnt clouds to remove a spell cast on him by his opponent, another magician Hrangsaipui (Dawikungpu), a place, it is said, morning mist or normal cloud has never covered even till this day; footprints on rocks of his double-horned mithun (sekiphir) which he took from Hrangsaipui to condole the death of his friend and opponent Keichal (man-tiger); his hidden or secret waterholes and many others.

In his book ‘National Identity’ (1991 p.22) Anthony D.Smith observed thus: “What I have termed ‘shared historical memories’ may also take the form of myth. Indeed, for many pre-modern peoples the line between myth and history was often blurred or even non-existent. Even today the line is not as clear-cut as some would like it to be; the controversy over the historicity of Homer and the Trojan War is a case in point”. I believe this observation also holds good in relation to Tuiruong or Tipaimukh myths and legends including the primordial belief of the local people that the magic hands of their hero Lalruong will protect, serve and save them from ruination.

Ethnic homeland

Apart from a myth of common ancestry and shared historical memories, a key factor in shaping a sense of common ethnic or national identity is an association with a specific homeland. In Ethnic Groups in Conflict (1985) Donald Horowitz succinctly said that “the sense of whence we came is central to the definition of who we are” and this observation explains the importance of Ruonglevaisuo for the ethnic tribe classified by G.A.Grierson under Old Kukis namely Aimol, Anal, Biete, Chawrai, Chiru, Chothe, Darlong, Hmar, Hrangkhol, Kaipeng, Kharam, Koireng (Kohren/Koren), Kom, Lamjang (Lamkang), Muolsom, Purum, Ranglong, Sakachek and others. This group is commonly identified as Hallam in Tripura and Hmar in other places though each clan tends to hold a separate identity.

This ethnic group in batches moved west from the Chin Hills and some of them reached Tripura towards the end of fourteenth century. The first recorded mention of their settlement in Tripura was in the Tripura Rajmala (Chronicles of Tripura) composed during the reign of Dharma Manikya in 1431 A.D. Some of those who moved towards Manipur had also already settled in Manipur valley and the surrounding hills during the reign of King Chalamba (1545-1562) (Capt. R.Singh: Anals of Manipur, 1981). All these clans nostalgically remembered and claimed that, before their dispersal in different directions, their last known group settlement was Ruonglevaisuo.

I visited several Hmar ethnic settlements in Manipur, Tripura, Cachar, North Cachar Hills, Karbi Anglong and Meghalaya in January-February, 2009 during which I routinely asked the elders of the community their origin, their last known settlement and when did they come to settle in their present habitat. Almost invariably, their reply was Ruonglevaisuo. A well-informed and historically sensitive Ranglong (Langrong) elder I met at Bagbasa in Tripura gave me very interesting and nostalgic account of the historical landmarks in and around Ruonglevaisuo and the amount of their collective memory left me speechless. For them, Ruonglevaisuo is their Second Sinlung and Jerusalem combined, their Harappa and Mohenjodaro. It bears the indelible stamp of their roots, their history, their identity, their soul.

In the limelight

As briefly mentioned earlier, the first time the name of Tipaimukh came into focus in the eyes of the outside world was when the British government decided to invade Mizoram to punish erring chiefs who invaded Cachar plains and British held territories at will. The northern column or Cachar Column directed from Silchar set up Camp No. 4 at Tipaimukh and from there launched the invasion. R.G. Woodthorpe, Lieutenant Royal Engineers who left detailed account of the invasion in his book The Lushai Expedition 1971-72 (London:1873, Reprint Calcutta 1978) said that Deputy Commissioner at Cachar J.W. Edgar who accompanied the Cachar Column as Civil Officer recommended that, as per surveys conducted earlier since 1850, Tipaimukh should be adopted as the starting point which they did. There are conflicting accounts regarding the time of their arrival# but Woodthorpe clearly mentioned in his book referred to above that “General Bourchier reconnoitered Tipai Mukh in person on the 9th” (December 1871). They reached Senvon where they set up Camp. No 6 near the top of the range on December 19. After successfully completing their mission, the Cachar Column returned to Tipaimukh on March 7, 1872 and left Tipaimukh on March 10.

Lieut. Woodthorpe’s parting lines to Tipaimukh is worth repeating and thought-provoking. He said, “By the 10th of March, in accordance with the orders of the Government before quoted, all the troops and coolies had bidden farewell to Tipai Mukh; and the Tuivai itself, flowing past ruined huts and deserted godowns, once more greeted the Barak with its ceaseless babble, undisturbed by the cries of coolies and the trumpeting of elephants, while the surrounding jungles relapsed into their former silence, resounding no more to the blows of the invaders’ axes” (p.305). The moot question before us is: how many invaders’ axes had since befallen on Tipaimukh and would the construction of a massive dam in this hallowed ground obliterate the sons of the soil and silence their voices forever?

Trading Centre

In fact, after the 1871-72 invasion, Tipaimukh had never regained its serenity. Realizing its commercial potential, the British administration gave permission to open Tipaimukh Bazar in 1873 which did a brisk business in raw rubber for the first year in exchange for manufactured goods and essential commodities brought from Silchar. But rubber trade began to decline from the next year onward as there were not enough wild rubber trees in the jungle to exploit commercially. Besides, the chiefs became ambitious and exacted heavy duty from rubber tapers and it became uneconomical to pursue the trade. One point worth mentioning here was a shameful malpractice resorted to by unscrupulous local suppliers who sold pebbles covered with rubber! Over and above all these, the five shops operating in Tipaimukh had to be closed down because of sporadic raids by Chief Liankhama’s men. Despite the zealous intervention of the Deputy Commissioner and the reopening of the bazaar at intervals, it was finally closed down in 1888* until the final subjugation of the region and the introduction of the British administration in 1890-91. With the imposition of the British rule, law and order was soon established and tribal raids became a thing of the past. Slowly but surely, traders returned to open shops again at Tipaimukh.

Another key factor responsible for increasing the strategic importance of Tipaimukh was the arrival of Christianity on February 5, 1910 at Senvon which became a mission headquarters. Manipur side of Tipaimukh belonged to the chief of Senvon, the largest village in Manipur hills. One of the strategic considerations of Watkin Roberts, pioneer missionary and founder of Thado-Kuki Pioneer Mission (which later became North-East India General Mission in 1923), was to support the indigenous mission by generating income through business ventures. With his trusted henchman, H.K.Dohnuna, a born-leader and a successful businessman who left his lucrative business in Aizawl to join TKPM, they came up with a business strategy which was to buy forest and agricultural products from along the banks of the Barak river, stock at Tipaimukh and then transport the goods to Lakhipur (Hmarkhawlien), Silchar, Calcutta and other trading centers. In this venture, the first hub was to be Tipaimukh and the second, Lakhipur. Therefore, they enthused villagers along the banks of the Barak and Tuivai rivers to take up commercially viable horticultural ventures and a good number of them started orange and pineapple orchards which later paid them good dividends.

Unfortunately, their vision could not materialize as planned due to many factors beyond their control including the reverberations of the two world wars, the crisis within the NEIG mission itself, the untimely death of Dohnuna and the worldwide Economic Depression following the collapse of Wall Street on October 24, 1929 that shook the world for almost two decades. But their dream did not die and still holds good. The recent crusade for economic redemption spearheaded by a retired senior officer Mr. L.B.Sinate since 2003 is the continuation of that vision described above. The atavistic belief that Tipaimukh holds Lalruong’s magic gourd for the survival of the people in the region will remain and not die.

Present state of Tipaimukh*

Of the 9 districts in Manipur State, the largest in terms of size is Churachandpur (4570 sq. kms) with a population of 2,27,905 (2001 census) and a literacy rate of 74.67 as against the average State literacy rate of 68.87. The district has 6 sub-divisional blocks and Tipaimukh Sub-division is one of them. The locals commonly call this sub-division as Hmar Area (Hmar Biel), the only spot on earth bearing this name. Headquartered at Parbung, it has a total area of 789.48 sq. km with 55 villages, 3975 households and a population of 24,084 predominantly Hmars. Tipaimukh is the 55th Assembly Constituency of Manipur and since its inception has been represented by men from the Hmar community such as Ngurdinglien Sanate, Selkai Hrangchal, Dr. Chaltonlien Amaw and Ngursanglur Sanate, the incumbent MLA.

I was born and brought up in this area till I matriculated from Pherzawl High School, the first high school in the Manipur hills established in 1951 which produced most of the second generation educated Hmars who later came to occupy important positions in government as well as church organizations. The only road connection then to Churachandpur till 1970s was a four-foot wide mule road and it took three days of walk on foot from dawn to dusk to reach the town. Before the opening of the 262 km Churachandpur-Tipaimukh road in late 1970s, we got all our essential supplies from Silchar through Tipaimukh and this situation has slowly been reverting after Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) withdrew the road constructors in 1987 and the Tipaimukh road quickly deteriorated due to disrepair and lack of maintenance.

Then in January, 1999 Tipaimukh Road was declared a National Highway (NH 150) with a promise to make into a double-lane highway. But the progress has been tardy and at a snail’s pace. I traveled by this route in 1986 with the then Deputy Commissioner of Churachandpur Mr. D.S.Poonia, presently Chief Secretary of Manipur. The road then was in good condition and one could easily reach Tipaimukh on the same day from Churachandpur. I took this route again in March/April 1989 on a visit from Rangoon and reached New Vervek in Mizoram from Churachandpur at dusk. After a gap of 18 long years, I visited the area again from Delhi through Aizawl and Churachandpur routes in October 2007 and 2008 respectively. By then, this so-called National Highway 150 had become a jungle path full of potholes and sinking mud that reminds you of a scene in chapter one of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress in which he vividly depicted Christian precariously wading through the Slough of Despond.

The apathy and neglect shown by the state and the central governments to Tipaimukh area is appalling. The best way to experience their fate is to travel in this infamous NH 150 under unceasing autumn rains which I did twice in October 2007 & 2008. No word I know of is fit enough to describe the real situation. While the world is heading for post- IT age, Tipaimukh area is bouncing back to the Stone Age. The stony and mindless neglect of their only transportation route to the district headquarters has adversely affected the socio-economic livelihood of the remote villages as they are unable to market their forest and other products and buy and transport their essential needs. This has seriously impacted the overall development of the region.

In the 1980s some semblance of governance was still in place but in 1990s they had vanished into thin air. Rickety office buildings were still there but had become the home of cattle and pigs at night. Government schools were still there by name but not teachers. Frayed and faded signboards of rural hospitals and dispensaries were still there but in a locked up condition. They were reeling under a ‘No No regime’: no doctors, no nurses, no medicine, no electricity, no public distribution system (PDS), no proper communication system, no newspapers, no internet, mobile or telephone connectivity except radio, no proper water supply. The signboard of a petrol pump near Tipaimukh was still hanging precariously under a thorny bush after the last drop of petrol dripped more than twenty years ago. And Tuivai bridge on NH 150, the only bridge linking Manipur and Mizoram which was washed away by the surging Tuivai in 1989 had been replaced by a swinging nylon Bailey bridge! The dreaded mautam (bamboo flowering) came and left but perennial famine remains firmly entrenched. Corruption of all kinds has seeped through every pore of the society. Honesty has taken flight to be replaced by hypocrisy which now sits in every nook and corner of the society including inside the hollow and dispirited churches.

Taking advantage of the inaccessibility of this God-forsaken place, the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) set up training camps in the area and took control of the road and allowed no government vehicles to pass beyond Bungmual village at the outskirt of Churachandpur town till 2005-2006 when the Indian army launched an operation and cleared the entire region of militant groups but not before the cruel raping of 21 women at Lungthulien village on the night of January 16, 2006 and the exodus of a large number of frightened villagers to Mizoram. This was followed at frequent intervals by mysterious deaths of children and the mindless response from Imphal so far had been to send a malaria doctor and some uninformed nurses to test blood for malaria in the most primitive fashion. How better insult one can pour on to another fellow countrymen than this!

The isolation of the people of Tipaimukh by the government is complete. But they cannot deny or ignore their existence as they are the custodian of a sacred and hallowed ground where the highest dam in India is planned to be built without consulting them. Will the authorities concerned persist in trying to deny their existence? What are the merits and demerits of constructing Tipaimukh Dam? What are the benefits that will accrue from it or the negative impacts that will befall on the sons of the soil? Will naked calculation of commercial or economic benefit from the dam alone override all other human considerations? Is it justifiable to sacrifice the fate of the people living in the region and their existence in cruel exchange for the so-called development? We gather together here today to deliberate on these issues with an open and constructive mind.

The future

I am not going to delve deep into what the future holds for Tipaimukh. I am more interested in what we do or what can we do to save Tipaimukh from extinction. It is amply clear to my mind that unless we stop Tipaimukh from further sinking in its rot and do something to bail it out, no amount of self-pontification from public rostrums during election campaigns, seminar halls and church pulpits will help. The rot within has to be cleansed and repaired from within and not from without. Outsiders can only lend helping hands. The degenerating factors responsible for this quagmire have to be identified and corrected. For this, it is necessary to re-examine closely when and where and how and why things went so wrong and whether corrective course can be taken. If this salvaging mission is not done, it is immaterial whether dam is constructed or not, Tipaimukh will ultimately self-destruct and sink down to oblivion in its own sludge.

Everyone knows that Tipaimukh is one of the sub-divisional blocks in a failed State. The system of governance had collapsed since long providing a good excuse for the gun-toting hands to run a parallel but seemingly more effective government. In my travelogue of 2004, I wrote an article entitled ‘Land of the Living Dead’ and I quote a few paragraphs to repeat my observations:

Quote:

The Killing Field

Manipur of to-day is no longer Manipur that was. The society has now gone back to the Hobbesian state of nature where people live in continual fear and danger of violent death, where life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short, where swords but not words reign supreme and where they embrace not with loving arms but with deadly arms of AK-47s. It has become a land of the living dead where they empty out their anger and frustration from the barrel of guns. Whichever side you turn, you see uniformed men with deathly toys in their hands. On the streets are government security personnel and those in the backyard are the so-called Ugs (underground soldiers). They all wear uniforms and batches and carry weapons. They co-exist side by side. They are afraid of each other because they too are mortals and the toys they carry kill effectively and mercilessly.

The worst part of it is that much before they kill you, they kill your freedom first. All these in the great name of freedom and integrity. One side kills to defend freedom and integrity of the whole country and the other side kills to demand and achieve freedom. One side is armed with Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), a licence to kill a suspect with immunity from legal prosecution which is a clear negation of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. The danger point in this is that a suspect is not necessarily the culprit and the obnoxious act provides a big room for an innocent to suffer unjustly. As a father has a duty to discipline a disobedient child but not to kill, the government has also the same rights and responsibilities but not to kill except through due process of law. AFSPA is a negation of that due process and no amount of articulation in its favour will justify its existence.

A Failed State

The more realistic issue is: what necessitates the imposition of such a draconian law as the AFSPA? Let’s see the picture of Manipur. According to my observation, Manipur has since long become a failed State. Corruption of all kinds has eaten away its foundations and the machinery therefore inevitably collapsed. Elected members with little or no vision at all have been busy making ministry after ministry but never have the time to run the government. It is a State where every elected MLA, in a ceaseless war of position, is vying to become a Minister. If he is not given a berth in the Cabinet, he rebels and plots to bring the Ministry down to form another one. If I remember correctly, at one point of time the Opposition had a solitary Congress member namely Mr. Rishang Keishing as his men left in droves to join a coalition government. Party affiliation and loyalty has little or no meaning amongst the foxy Judas Iskariots whose culture is thriving on outward allegiance and inner betrayal.

A House of Cards

Only a stable House can provide a stable government. Unfortunately, Manipur for long has been having only a house of cards which collapsed at every knock of power-hungry politicians. Ministry after Ministry fell like ninepins and elections after elections held in the past returned more and more ambitious members bend on looting the coffers of the State to make good their election expenses and amass some for the next elections. I was told time and again that, on paper, successive ministries had already undertaken projects after projects, dammed and bridged every river and nullah worth its name, terraced every imaginable hillside for cultivation, provided almost every village some form of schools with complimentary teaching and administrative staff, health centers and dispensaries, electricity and potable water supply. The list is endless but the reality is shorter than a hot-pant.

Looting the looter

Consequently, the list of people’s frustrations and complaints is getting longer and longer but their tempers have become shorter and shorter. Every imaginable government job carries a heavy price. The criterion in the employment market is money. You pay the price, you get the post. Nothing is possible without money and nothing is impossible with money. Thousands of educated unemployed youths who cannot afford to buy employment either have to go outside the State to seek employment or sit idle at home indulging in drugs or take up arms and join the underground outfit. The ongoing famous saying in Manipur is that if you want to build a good house and provide economic and physical security to your family, join the underground. It is a sad alternative to joining election politics but equally and immorally lucrative. The new equation is simple and straightforward: politicians loot and you loot politicians.

Believe it or not, this is the way the system operates in Manipur. The Ugs now decide who will get elected. And once elected, it is the turn of the elect to support the electors and oblige their demands and wishes. It is a classic remake of Mrs. Shelley’s Frankenstein and the monster he created. There was a time when a voter actually and in person cast his or her vote in the ballot box at the polling booth. Even now, on paper, a voter still casts his/her vote in the ballot box in a polling booth but with a difference: now an unseen hand casts the vote for the highest bidder through the barrel of a gun. That is the way our proxy democracy operates in many areas in Manipur. It’s a complete sham but it works in its own fashion. You loot the looter through democratic machinery and share the booty. Nothing official about it, as the advertisement goes.

Dead Voters

I was told that the number of houses officially declared and registered in the villages is much more than the actual number of houses, and accordingly the number of voters too. It is indeed an inflation of a strange kind perhaps not found anywhere on earth. How could this happen? Because enumeration in Manipur is a great political bargaining game. In some areas, there are more voters than the population. The dead do not die here for good; they faithfully surface again at the time of elections. If you sit with any official and ask his experience on election duties, he will tell you many juicy election tales that you will never find even in a book of fiction. Strange things happen naturally in this land of deception, a paradise turned into a blazing inferno by its own people. It certainly beats Dante’s inferno.” Unquote.

Tipaimukh has its full share of the result of the tragic drama briefly described above. The irony is that one can neglect Tipaimukh but cannot write off as it sits on a strategic location where a high dam is to be built. Will this dam be a boon or a bane? Survival or extinction? Salvation or eternal damnation? For whom the Tipaimukh bell tolls?

Arguments for and against building Tipaimukh Dam has been going on for some years and dissenting voices particularly from the affected areas and the riparian regions in India and Bangladesh will grow louder and louder as awareness to the damage it can cause increases. Some even call it a geo-tectonic blunder of international dimension, an alarming venture of high magnitude, a death-knell to indigenous people in the region, a doomsday project which will inundate vast forestland, damage biodiversity and ecological balance and cause devastating floods and earthquakes, a project driven by selfish motive and vested interest and many others. The protagonists for the dam dismiss these dissenting voices as jeremiad and argue that the benefit will far surpass the damage it can cause.

However, even in a case like this where opinions are diametrically polarized, there often is a median line for a possible solution. Lack of transparency and disregard of proper consultation mechanism for a mega project like the proposed Tipaimukh dam can create avoidable misunderstanding and complications. Casual observation of the manner the concerned authorities have so far handled the proposed dam betrayed the confidence and trust of the local population who will bear the brunt of the project. Any further attempt to ride rough shod over them and deprive them of their birthright to live and survive will be a violation of their constitutional rights and it will boomerang. The situation calls for a review from all angles.

(December 7, 2010, Delhi.)

* Prepared for the National Seminar on Dams and Development: The Case of the Tipaimukh Dam sponsored by North-Eastern Council (NEC), Shillong and held at the Vocational and Training Centre, Muolhlum, Rengkai, Churachandpur from 13-15 December, 2010.

# According to B.Lalthangliana (Mizo Chanchin, 2001 p.411) the Cachar Column left Silchar on December 16, 1971 and proceeded further from Tipaimukh towards Mizoram through Senvon on January 2, 1972.

* Further details can be had from B.Lalthangliana’s compilation ‘India, Burma, Bangladesh-a MIZO CHANCHIN’ Aizawl, 2001 p. 528-529

* Dr. Lal Dena’s vivid account of his visit to Tipaimukh area is attached with his permission for further reading.

Large Scale Repatriation of Bru To Mizoram Underway

Aizawl, Dec 14 : A large scale repatriation of Bru refugees from six relief camps in North Tripura will start again, after it was suspended by the Mizoram government following opposition from anti-repatriation leaders.

Brue leader Elvis Chorkhy today said at a meeting here Union Home Ministry officials, the Mizoram government and leaders of the Bru yesterday decided to undertake a large-scale repatriation of Bru refugees.

Mr Chorkhy stated another meeting would be held tomorrow at the Mizoram-Tripura border Mamit town to fix the date for the resumption of the repatriation.

The decision came after the Union Home Ministry made it clear that the six relief camps in Kanchanpur sub-division of North Tripura district would be closed down and ration discontinued from March next year, according to Chorky.

''The officials (of the Union Home Ministry) during the meeting said all the facilities provided by the Centre through the Tripura state government, including free ration for the refugees would be stopped when the relief camps are closed,'' he said.

The meeting held under the chairmanship of state Home Secretary Lalmalsawma, was attended by three officials from the Centre headed by Union Home Ministrys joint secretary (North East) Sambhu Singh, deputy commissioners of Mamit, Lunglei and Kolasib districts, other home department officials and three leaders of the BCC.

Around 101 Bru families have so far returned to Mizoram since the first phase of the repatriation which began on November 3 last.

The state government called off the process after anti-repatriation elements amongst the refugees not only created road blockades to prevent the refugees from returning to Mizoram, but also obstructed the government officials who were conducting identification of the bona fide residents of the state.

About 30,000 minority Brus were displaced from Mizoram in 1997 following ethnic violence triggered after a Mizo forest official was killed by the Bru militants.

Another 5,000 Brus fled in November 2009 following fresh violence following a killing of Mizo youth by suspected Bru militants.

10 Strange Automobile Stories Of 2010

So you finally manage a driver's licence after 960 attempts. You go to the dealership and get the perfect first car - that's made of marijuana and runs on scotch. And here's the clincher: Buy one, get an AK-47 free!

No, this is no rambling of an intoxicated mind: These are real stories starring real people. Read on for some the whackiest, most bizarre news reports that have surfaced this past year.
Oh, and did we mention that the Bugatti Veyron is a piece of junk?

Buy a truck, get a free AK-47

Nations Trucks in Florida has introduced the scheme of a complimentary Soviet-style AK-47 assualt rifle with every purchase to help it through the sluggish US economic recovery,'The Daily Telegraph' online reported.

The dealership has more than doubled sales since the offer was announced last week, according to Nick Ginetta, the general sales manager.

A poster in Nations' office window proclaims "FREE AK-47" above a large illustration of the gun, which is by far the biggest-selling assault rifle of all time.

A driver's license after 960 tries!

A 69-year-old South Korean woman took the driver's test a record 960 times before she finally got her license.

For three years starting in April 2005, Grandma Cha Sa-soon took the test once a day five days a week. After that, her pace slowed, to about twice a week. But she never quit.

Hers is a fame based not only on sheer doggedness, a quality held in high esteem by Koreans, but also on the universal human sympathy for a monumental - and in her case, cheerful - loser.

After she got her license in May, Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, South Korea's leading carmaker, started an online campaign asking people to post messages of congratulations. Thousands poured in. In early August, Hyundai presented Cha with a $16,800 car.

For each of her 960 tests, she had to pay $5 in application fees.

Step on the grass!

More than a dozen Canadian companies have joined hands to produce a 'green' car made of marijuana. To be run on electricity, the prototype design of the car - called Kestrel - was unveiled at the Electric Mobility Show in Vancouver in September.

The four-seater has a bio-composite body made of hemp - which is the name for the cannabis (bhang) plant. It runs on batteries with 4.5 to 17.3 kilowatt hours of energy. The car reached a top speed of 90 kilometres per hour. It can run 40 to 160 kilometres before needing to be recharged, depending on the type of battery.

The first 20 cars will be delivered next year.

0-100 in a peg or two...

A peg of scotch whisky can reduce carbon emission as scientists in Scotland have developed a biofuel from the by-products of whisky which can be used to power cars.

Edinburgh Napier University has filed a patent for the biofuel which has been created in two years by the university's Biofuel Research Centre. The university now plans to create a "spin-out" company to take the fuel to the market, according to Daily Mail.

According to the researchers, two by-products from the whisky production process - "pot ale", the liquid from the copper stills, and "draff", the spent grains - are used to produce butanol which can be used as fuel.

Martin Tangney, who is leading the research and is director of the Biofuel Research Centre, said, "This is a more environmentally sustainable option and potentially offers new revenue on the back of one Scotland's biggest industries. We've worked with some of the country's leading whisky producers to develop the process."

Bugatti Veyron a piece of junk

Ron Dennis, the outspoken chairman of Mclaren Automotive, has branded the Bugatti Veyron a "complete piece of junk", and claimed that the £1.3m hypercar needed ten attempts to beat the Mclaren F1 in a drag race staged by Top Gear in Abu Dhabi.

Dennis savaged the world's fastest car in an interview with Arabian Business. His comments followed the unveiling of Mclaren's own supercar, the MP4-12C, in the UK last month. Dennis sacrificed his place at the head of the brand's prestigious F1 team to concentrate on making the new supercar a success.

He told the magazine that: "The Bugatti Veyron is a complete piece of junk. I think it is. I believe I can look at a range of women and I can see beauty in most of them, but I can look at a Bugatti and I think it is pig ugly.

'When we did the race in Abu Dhabi, we beat it off the line so many times that the film crew was getting frustrated because the outcome was supposed to be for the Bugatti to win.

Renault delivers Zoe, Frenchwomen cry foul

It could be the French version of "A Boy Named Sue" - a car named Zoe. A judge ruled Wednesday that the automaker Renault can call its new electric car Zoe, much to the chagrin of some French women and girls with that first name.

Parents of two children named Zoe Renault (pronounced ZOH-eh ruh-NO) had argued in court that their children could end up enduring a lifetime of teasing and annoyance - just like the fictional youth named Sue in the famous Johnny Cash song.

Lawyer David Koubbi insisted that while it's clear the Zoe Renaults of the world would be most affected by the release of the car - slated for 2012 - all of France's estimated 35,000 Zoes would feel the sting.

"Can you imagine what little Zoes would have to endure on the playground, and even worse, when they get a little bit older and someone comes up to them in a bar and says, 'Can I see your airbags?' or 'Can I shine your bumper?'" Koubbi said.

Happy birthday, Dad!

Forty-two years after it left these shores for Europe, Rajkot will have the 'Star of India' again.

The 76-year-old Rolls Royce Phantom-II -- famously the one and only saffron-coloured Rolls Royce ever built -- was custom made in 1934 for the then ruler of Rajkot, Thakor Saheb Dharmendrasinhji, and sold to an English collector in 1968. Now the current Crown Prince, Yuvraj Mandhatsinh Jadeja, has bought the car, bidding via the Internet at an auction, and will gift it to his father Manoharsinh Jadeja on his 75th birthday on November 29.

Bearing chassis number 188PY and named after the legendary 563-carat sapphire 'Star of India', it was made as a representative vehicle in 1934 for Thakor Saheb.

"It's a great symbol of a bygone era. This is a special gift for my father -- it was used at his wedding ceremony," said Mandhatsinh.

Mandhatsinh says he paid "more than Rs 3 crore" to buy the car at the Germany auction in September.

'Fiat doesn't need Italy'

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne says the Italian car giant does not need Italy anymore. "Not one euro of Fiat's 2-million-euro profit came from Italy."

During an interview on RAI state television on a popular Sunday-evening talk show, Marchionne blamed rigid unions and labour law for its money-losing Italian operation.

"We still have a loss," Marchionne said. "If we were to eliminate that Italian side from our results, Fiat would do better."

Bye bye Ambassador!

Like many in officialdom, the Army no longer considers Ambassadors a sign of regalia. It plans to pull those distinctive black Ambys -- with funny number plates -- to close ranks with bureaucrats who have already switched their cars.

The Army's move comes after the Department of Expenditure included the Maruti SX4 in the list of approved models of staff car in June 2009. And last month, the Army sought the Finance Ministry's permission to replace all 381 Ambassadors that it owns by SX4s to ferry officers of the rank of Major General and above.

The Ambassador -- its earlier avatars was Hindustan and Landmaster -- was taken off the staff car list in August 1995 but brought back in March 1996 after Hindustan Motors introduced the fuel-efficient Ambassador ISZ variant.

150 Mercs in one delivery

It started as a jest over an early morning jog and ended up creating a record of sorts in the history of the automobile giant. As many as 150 variants of Mercedes Benz, together worth Rs 65 crore, were handed over to people from different walks of life in Aurangabad on Thursday in a single transaction. The delivery of an order placed by Aurangabad residents was the biggest and highest car deal to have taken place ever in India.

In mostly Tenorite Grey, Calcite White, Obsidian Black, Iridian Silver and Carneol Red colours, the swanky lot of 17 S-class, 74 E-class, 39 C-class, six GL and 18 M-class vehicles were handed over. The State Bank of India had sanctioned over Rs 44 crore for 116 of the customers within a record time of seven days.

"It all started with seven of us joking about buying a Mercedes. A little more serious thought, and we approached the company at their Chakan plant. Within a week, they held a car rally in Aurangabad. The news spread by word of mouth and we were 115 by mid-April. The whole deal was closed by April-end and the total number of buyers went up to 150 by then," said Rahul Pagariya, one of the buyers and director of Pagariya Auto.

The Meghen Arrest Drama And After

By Pradip Phanjoubam

There is now no doubt that UNLF chairman RK Meghen, alias Sanayaima, is now in the custody of the National Investigation Agency. He was produced before Gauhati High Court on 3 December and was remanded to police custody for a further 14 days.

Understandably, Manipur heaved a sigh of relief, at least because the arrested underground leader did not simply disappear without a trace, as many had begun to fear was a distinct possibility when no official information of his arrest or his whereabouts emerged after more than two months of his unacknowledged arrest in Lalmati, in Dhaka, on 29 September, as reported by the BBC website.

   Against this backdrop, news that Meghen had been arrested in India by the Bihar police on 30 November from Motihari while trying to cross the border — though there will be few who believe it was not a cover up to avoid the legal complications for detaining someone for over two months without trial — is definitely welcome.

Theoretically, after more than two months of illegal detention, it would have become increasingly difficult, if not impossible, for those who made the arrest to acknowledge as much, thus making the usual resort to “unaccounted disappearance” or “fake encounter” killing to avoid further complications, seem a real danger.

Viewed in this light, the Bihar arrest can be seen as a strategy and acknowledgement of the Centre’s desire to continue engagement with the UNLF and its leadership, as well as other insurgent organisations, rather than end the effort abruptly in a fight to the finish.

Such a reading of the unfolding developments lends room for optimism. Indeed, if the Indian authorities felt there was no longer any need for such engagements, the UNLF leader would probably have simply “disappeared”, with the former maintaining that till 30 November it had no knowledge of the arrest.

Perhaps the masterminds of the counter-insurgency operations in India also had other considerations in mind. They were watching the response of the people in Manipur and, to a lesser extent, the Northeast, to the news of the arrest of an important leader of a powerful insurgent group. The mood on the ground was mixed.

There were no immediate shows of outrage, but as two months lapsed with Meghen’s whereabouts still obscure, general discontent over the issue being taken too lightly grew. This would have sent the message that if Meghen was made to disappear altogether, there was the distinct possibility of his being martyred and such an eventuality would have incensed the public mood. Meghen’s reappearance, even if in a “staged” arrest in Bihar, is welcome for Manipur has seen enough explosions of public discontent.

The question now is, which way from here? So far, speculation has been on what may have happened, hence an interpretation of past events and their possible causes. Reading the future is a different ball game. For one thing, there will be few in the state who do not want an honourable end to the problems facing Manipur. We do hope Meghen’s arrest and the events that followed will have served as eye-openers for all sides in the conflict that their readings of what constitutes popular aspiration is not always in congruence with what the people actually have as priorities in their wish list.

Let all the parties reassess their stances and on the new platform decide on the best way to proceed. In whatever decision taken by either or both sides to bring about a settlement to outstanding issues, whichever method this settlement is sought to be achieved — through continued violent antagonism or through democratic negotiations — let it be moderated by the new understanding of the people’s aspiration.

In making such an assessment, Ernest Renan’s provocative metaphor of the nation as a daily plebiscite in his famous 1887 lecture at the Sorbonne deserves consideration of the question: what is a nation? For, indeed, these plebiscites come up virtually at every turn of events. The ability to read the results of these, as evident in the constantly changing writing on the walls of every society, especially those torn by nationalistic conflicts, would be the virtual barometer to gauge how committed to democratic values and norms of problem-solving those engaged in the conflict are.

From this vantage, the underground United National Liberation Front’s recent annual statement, indicating it was preparing to go through the painful exercise of self-reassessment as well as a consideration of the changed mood of the people they profess to be fighting for, is significant.

Quite evidently, the UNLF’s introspective statement is prompted by the public response to the news of Meghen’s arrest. For the sake of an honourable settlement to Manipur’s problems, hopefully the UNLF and, indeed, all other armed opposition groups will be able to pick up the lesson and prepare to reinvent themselves so as to bridge the current gap between what they think the people want and what the people actually want.

From the idle talk at roadside tea stalls to concerns shared by vegetable vendors at the marketplace, to more articulate expressions of these same concerns in Shumang Lilas, proscenium theatres and now in the new and increasingly sophisticated medium of Manipuri cinema, the daily buzz has been unambiguous about this misconception of the general public’s aspiration. In more formal ways, the periodic Assembly elections, flawed and warped by corruption as they are, contain the same message.

Yet nobody for whom these messages are meant care to read them. Instead, they are rationalised, intellectualised and interpreted to mean just the opposite of what they actually say. In the worst case scenarios, they are simply dismissed as reactionary statements of the petit bourgeois who stood to benefit from the crumbs that fall from the establishment’s table.

Renan’s lecture has other lessons that could benefit peacemakers of all hues, including the established order. It says, for instance, that “where national memories are concerned, griefs are of more value than triumphs, for they impose duties and require a common effort. A nation is therefore a largescale solidarity, constituted by the feeling of the sacrifices that one has made in the past and of those that one is prepared to make in the future”.

Oppression, suppression, aggression, intimidation, humiliation, etc, rather than mitigating would only heighten the resolve to put up resistance.

The writer is editor, Imphal Free Press

Red Chilli Campaign–Self Defence For Women in Delhi

By Richa Sharma

New Delhi, Dec 14 : 'Stop becoming a victim, the solution is mirchi jhonk' - a short bursts of red chilli spray! This is the slogan of the Red Chilli campaign launched by a group of medicos in the capital to teach simple methods of self-defence to the capital's women.

Worried over the increasing rate of crime against women in the city, the group which calls itself 'mirchi jhonk' launched the campaign in August this year but it has become active last month.

Women are given some simple tips of self- defence -- carry a pack of red chillies or pepper in the hand bag and blind an assailant, always walk on pavements facing the traffic and not along with it, keep all important phone numbers, including that of police, on emergency dial.

The group has a dedicated team of self-defence trainers, counsellors who train women in the art of self-protection. They have conducted some training camps in Delhi schools and colleges.

"It is a campaign by the women and for the women. People can volunteer for counselling, self-defence training or response team. The motive is that each one of us be a protector of one another," the campaign's director Shalini Malik told IANS.

The group also runs a helpline, 60606161, that women can call in case of any emergency. And so far, the helpline has received over 150 calls on issues ranging from eve teasing, stalking and molestation to domestic violence.

Malik, who runs a skin and cosmetic surgery clinic in the city, said she was shocked after the Dhaula Kuan gangrape case last month and decided to push forward the campaign in the capital.

A 30-year-old BPO employee from Mizoram was abducted and raped by five men in south Delhi Nov 24 after she was dropped by her office cab near her home at around 1.30 a.m.

"Delhi has become unsafe for women. Every day, each one of us faces molestation in one form or the other and most of these incidents are never reported," Malik said.

"We just cannot be dependent on police or others and should take the responsibility of our security ourselves," she added.

Malik came up with the 'mirchi jhonk' after many of her female friends and relatives complained about molestation.

"I know it's a small initiative but one has to start from somewhere. So I started with mirchi jhonk. I have got tremendous support from other medicos, the people of Delhi and the police," she said.

"According to official figures, as many as 18 women are assaulted in some form or the other every hour across India. Over the last few months, cases of rape and assault have made it to the headlines with alarming frequency," she said.

"We all know that girls are being molested every day. One can't drive alone because someone might just try and harm, even kill. Isn't this violation of our rights?" she questioned.

The group will soon launch a cab service exclusively for women - to be driven by women drivers only.

They are also planning to conduct some events like awareness walks, fashion shows and kite flying competitions to spread awareness about safety of women in the city.

So, join the Red Chilli campaign and be safe!

India, Myanmar Hold Talks on Border Security

Aizawl, Dec 14 : With an aim to tighten security along the border, officials of India and Myanmar held discussions on border security and effective management of their frontier in Mizoram today.

The first Border Liaison Officers (BLO) meeting of the two countries was held at Champhai Deputy Commissioner's office in eastern Mizoram near the border on Sunday, official statement said here.

The Indian delegation, headed by Home Ministry's Joint Secretary S Singh, discussed security issues, measures to prevent drug trafficking, border management, border trade and trans-border development plans with Myanmarese authorities led by U Nay Aung, wing commander, Chin state.

U Nay Aung told the Indian delegates that he represented only a state and that he would forward the issues to the country's higher authorities in Yangon.

The meeting agreed that Champhai district authorities and Chin state authorities use Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) cellular communication systems technology to keep in touch.

It was demonstrated during the meeting that CDMA network covered entire Myanmar.

Trans-border movement of terrorists and arms smuggling via Mizoram was high on the agenda.
''Although Mizoram is the only state in the northeast free from any activities of separatist outfits, terrorists of other states are occasionally using the state's border as safe passage,'' state Home officials said, adding that both the countries agreed to work together to curb terrorist activities across the border.

It was agreed in the meeting that Myanmar security officials learn English or Hindi at Champhai to overcome communication problems.

Mizo language was accepted as the medium of communication for the time being.

After the meeting, the Indian delegation handed over gifts to the Myanmar authorities, which included a Bolero LX van, three Super Splendor bikes, a 6KVA diesel generator, three computer sets and six wireless sets. The monetary value of the gifts was Rs 20 lakh, officials said.

The next meeting was scheduled to be held during April 2011.

Besides S Singh, the Indian delegation comprised R R Jha and Manoj Yadav from the Home ministry, H N Mishra, Director, Ministry of Home Affairs; S Rangnanathan, Indian diplomat to Myanmar; Anju Ranjan, U/S ministry of External Affairs and Mizoram state home officials.

Need to Enhance Infrastructure in Northeast India: IAF Chief

New Delhi, Dec 14 : Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal PV Naik on Monday said there was a need for infrastructure development in the eastern region to enhance faster adoption of the newly inducted equipment by the Eastern Air Command.

Addressing the Eastern Air Command annual station commanders' conference in Shillong on Monday, Naik emphasised that a large number of inductions are taking place in Eastern Air Command, therefore there is a need to upgrade infrastructure and training facilities for faster adoption of the new equipments.

"The IAF is moving forward to be totally net-centric which will be the future operational requirement," an official statement quoted Naik as saying.

The Air Chief Marshal also stressed for a need to achieve accident-free environment and asked commanders to put in their best to safeguard concerned operational areas and air space.

The Air Chief awarded 'Best Flying Station' to Air Force Station Tezpur, 'Best Non Flying Station' to Air Force Station Digaru (both in Assam) and other trophies to different squadrons for their achievements.

Eastern Air Command AOC-in-C Air Marshal KK Nohwar, in his welcome address, highlighted the operational, maintenance and administrative initiatives in the command and emphasised the core values of force and efforts being put in to achieve these values and standards.

The commanders' conference, which will carry out operational, maintenance and administrative review of the Air Force Stations, will conclude on Tuesday.

Air Marshal Nohwar will chair a session on various issues pertaining to operational requirements in the North-East Region and developmental plans with the Station Commanders of all the Air Force Stations in the region.

Senior officers of EAC headquarters are attending the conference.

Holes in NHPC Claim on Northeast Dams

Lower Subansiri dam site

Guwahati, Dec 14 : The expert committee to study adverse downstream impacts of the proposed Lower Subansiri hydroelectric power project today accused the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation of trying to mislead the Centre by giving false and unscientific explanations about impacts of the power project.

The committee, which includes experts from Gauhati University, Dibrugarh University and IIT Guwahati, dared the NHPC to hold a meeting at the project site to enable its members to highlight loopholes of the project on the site.

Bhagawat Pran Dowerah, a member of the expert committee, told reporters today that the NHPC could not submit relevant documents and scientific explanations to substantiate its arguments in favour of construction of the Subansiri project during a meeting convened by the Union ministry of environment and forests in New Delhi on Saturday.

The power project is being executed at Gerukamukh village in Dhemaji along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border to generate 2,000MW electricity.

“We have already mentioned in our final report, submitted to the Assam government and the NHPC, that the present site is not at all suitable considering geological and seismological sensitivity of the location. In Saturday’s meeting, the NHPC said it had constructed the Subansiri dam in such a way so that it could withstand an earthquake with an intensity of 8 on the Richter scale. The NHPC officials also argued that there was no possibility of such an earthquake in future at the project site,” Dowerah said.

He said the expert committee asked the NHPC how it could fix the magnitude of 8 on the Richter scale for the dam’s safety when Assam had already experienced two quakes measuring 8.5 in 1897 and 1950. The expert committee member said in 1947 there was an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale in the catchment area of Subansiri.

“It is not at all clear to the experts how flood forecasting and warning system for water release will work without a complete a rain gauge network and real time data gathering system, which the NHPC apparently termed impossible. The NHPC officials in the meeting said they could issue a warning only five hours before in case of releasing huge excess quantum of rainwater from the dam reservoir. Such a short duration will not be adequate enough to take safety measures in case of floods,” Dowerah said.

He said according to the plan, the NHPC would release only 6 cubic metre per second (cumec) of water at the proposed Subansiri project during 18 hours of a day in winter season so that enough water can be stored in the reservoir. The NHPC will release 2,500 cumec of water for the rest six hours to operate eight turbines to produce electricity.

“We have argued that if the NHPC releases 6 cumec of water for 18 hours the river would dry up and pose a serious threat to aquatic lives. For example, a dolphin can survive only in case of minimum release 450 cumec of water,” Dowerah said.